US Stock Market Move | Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) rose nearly 2% to hit another all-time high, becoming Wall Street's top choice for hedging AI risk.

On Friday, Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) rose nearly 2% in early trading, hitting another all-time high and bringing its year-to-date gain to 32%, with a total market capitalization of US$5.23 trillion. Apple Inc.'s stock is becoming an important hedge for Wall Street against a decline in AI technology stocks, because Apple Inc. has not joined the massive spending wave in AI infrastructure construction, and its ample cash flow provides investors with a safe haven. According to Apple Inc.'s previously released financial results, in the fiscal year ended September, the company generated approximately US$136 billion in free cash flow, up about 38% from the same period a year earlier and far above the record of about US$111 billion set in 2022. That cash flow scale is equivalent to twice the combined revenue of the four giants Microsoft Corporation, Meta, Alphabet and Amazon.com, Inc. over the most recent four quarters. At the same time, those four companies spent more than US$600 billion in capital expenditure over the past four quarters, while Apple Inc.'s spending in this fiscal year was only about US$9 billion, down nearly 30% from the previous year. This "standalone" spending style has been recognized by Wall Street, and more and more investors regard Apple Inc.'s stock as a hedging tool against AI risk.